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H.M.S. Duke of York |
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Duke of York was built in 1886, the first of a class of three ęther battleships (the other two are Duke of Clarence and Duke of Cambridge). Duke of York is 448 feet long, 288 feet wide and measures 10,000 tons. For travel between planets, Duke of York's Armstrong Ęther Propeller can drive her at a maximum velocity of one million miles per day. Electricity to power the Ęther Propeller comes from dynamos driven by two triple-expansion steam engines. Since her coal-fired boilers can't be used in space, steam is provided by a parabolic mirror (collapsible for travel in atmosphere) that concentrates solar energy into a boiler. When in a planetary atmosphere, her steam engines deliver 6,250 horsepower to four wood air screws. Her large rudder provides directional control while in atmosphere and doubles as a radiator to dispose of waste heat while in space. Louver slats of Meepsorian liftwood in the hull, controlled by a complicated arrangement of trim levers, can lift the ship from the surface of a planet to beyond the atmosphere, where her ęther propeller becomes effective. The Duke of York class are lightly armored compared to a modern ironclad of comparable size because of the weight restrictions imposed by liftwood, but they are still formidable warships and the most powerful ęther flyers in the Solar System. Their main armament consists of four 12-inch guns, especially designed to work in the airlessness of space, mounted in two twin ventral turrets. Her secondary batteries consist of two 4-inch guns mounted in aft sponson turrets, another 4-inch gun in a bow sponson, and eight 3-inch guns in broadside sponsons. She can also mount a number of smaller guns on fixed pintels on her deck when she is in atmosphere. The normal complement is 245 men, plus she has the capacity to transport a full battalion of troops.
Specifications: Duke of York class ęther battleship: built by the Royal Navy Shipyard, Portsmouth, England
Ęther drive: Armstrong patent ęther propeller, providing a maximum velocity of 1 million miles per day
Engines: two triple-expansion steam engines, with 3,125 horsepower each
Length: 382 feet 7 inches, overall length (including the ęther propeller) is 448 feet 6 inches
Beam: 121 feet 5 inches, overall width (including atmospheric propeller nacelles) is 218 feet
Height: 155 feet 4 inches (not counting the mast)
Weight: 10,000 tons
Airspeed: 21 knots
Ceiling: n/a
Endurance: 160 days
Armament: 4 twelve-inch naval guns, 3 four-inch guns, 8 three-inch guns, 10 one-pound Hotchkiss rotating cannon, 20 Nordenfelt machineguns, 8 bomb racks
Crew: 245 (20 officers, 197 enlisted, 28 marines).
Space:1889 is Frank Chadwick's registered trademark for his game of Victorian Era space-faring. He has granted permission for the use of the background of Space:1889 for the stories presented here. All text, illustrations, photographs and design are © 2000-2007 Dan Thompson, except where otherwise noted.
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